Almost 100 Rape Kits Put In Storage, Untested, By Suburban Police Departments: Tribune

Chicago Tribune:

A woman submitted to a rape kit exam in July 2008 at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital after a husky stranger allegedly dragged her to the ground and sexually assaulted her, biting her on the neck and ears, according to police reports.

Nearly one year later, the kit with its potential DNA evidence sits in storage at the Downers Grove Police Department after the agency chose not to have it tested.

Read the whole story: Chicago Tribune

Comments

[RapeVictimAdvocates]

I was struck by something -

"The suburban police departments said rape kits are stored untested if the victim recants the allegations, doesn't want to press charges or is found not to be credible. They are also kept if investigators don't believe the case is strong, if the suspect acknowledges he had sex but says it was consensual, or if the state's attorney's office refuses to prosecute."

All of the reasons to not test seem defined so broadly as to exclude almost all rape! For example, excluding kits for testing based on the suspect claiming it was consensual would deny any further justice to survivors who were on a date or in a relationship with the suspect; after all, the suspect in these cases would most likely claim consensual sex. Not to mention sex workers who are raped, etc.

It really is infuriating.

And this doesn't even include the cases where the police department is waiting for the kit to come back before they investigate further.

We have a lot of work to do.

-Rape Victim Advocates, Chicago non-profit

[mergina]

Cops in general dont care about women who are raped.

[luvronpaul]

Sad but true... Women are second-class citizens to them

[davidwayneosedach]

Why not at least try it?

[diffrntdrummr]

The "Professionals" interviewed for the story actually said, ( if I understand it correctly), we want to see if the case solves itself before we look at the evidence!! Am I missing something? These are the good guys???This stinks!!

[DrJulienArbor]

Welcome to DuPage County! How else would they keep the crime figures so low?

http://www.dupageco.org/planning/profile/pdf/7.11_crime.pdf

[VOTER]

Lake County.

While I don't know how rape kits are handled in Lake
County, the information gathered for statistics is troubling.
In many areas, we are practically crime free!
Too good to be true ..........­..........­.. you bet.

[sunnybunny]

Cause cases "solve themselves" right? Is that like when the cops arrest someone based on gossip etc. instead of solving the crime by investigating the evidence.